{"answers":{"affected":"1 open source package ship an affected version, including blockchain-sync-utils.","exploited":"There is no known exploitation of MAL-2026-17588 in the wild and no public exploit code.","fix":"Remove the package from your dependencies and lockfiles, then rotate any secrets on machines where it was installed.","what":"MAL-2026-17588 is a malicious package in blockchain-sync-utils, published on 5 Oct 2026."},"fix_prompt":"MAL-2026-17588 is a malicious package: blockchain-sync-utils (RubyGems). Every version was published to cause harm.\n\nTask:\n1. Search this repository's dependency manifests and lockfiles for the package, including transitive dependencies.\n2. If it is present, remove it, regenerate the lockfile with the project's package manager, and replace whatever it was used for.\n3. List any CI runners, developer machines or containers that installed it, so their secrets can be rotated.\n4. If the package is not used anywhere, say so and change nothing.\n\nReference: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-17588/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-17588/index.md)","id":"MAL-2026-17588","markdown":"https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-17588/index.md","name":"MAL-2026-17588","record":{"aliases":[],"analysis":null,"analysis_generated_by":null,"assigner":null,"cpe":[],"cvss":{"score":null,"severity":null,"source":null,"vector":null,"version":null},"cwes":[],"description":"RubyGems runs this gem's native extension script `ext/blockchain-sync-utils/extconf.rb` during `gem install`. The script exits without action on CI runners and sandboxes, based on CI environment variables, the hostname, the username and the working directory. It continues if the system uptime is over 30 minutes and the home directory holds `.ssh`, `.gitconfig`, `.npmrc`, `.gem/credentials` or `.bundle`. It then decodes a Base64 Ruby payload and forks twice into a detached process. After 20 to 40 minutes the payload downloads `http://45.138.12.177:8092/wgkit.tar.gz` to `/tmp/.w1.tgz` with `curl`, extracts it to `/tmp/.w1/`, runs `wg_install.sh` with `bash` and deletes both. The payload stores the URL XOR-encoded with the key `usv\\x9a`. The Ruby code in `lib/` is a decoy. The RubyGems account `reqthrottle_3474` published this gem and 41 others with the same loader on 2026-10-05.\n\nThe gem's native-extension build script (ext/.../extconf.rb) is a dropper rather than a real build step. The accompanying C source is a no-op stub, so the extension exists only to run install-time code. The script decodes a base64-wrapped Ruby payload and eval()s it inside a detached double-fork (Process.setsid), after gating on anti-analysis checks (CI environment variables, hostname regex, /proc/uptime greater than 1800 seconds, jittered sleep) and on the presence of developer-credential artifacts on the host (~/.ssh, ~/.gitconfig, ~/.npmrc, ~/.gem/credentials, ~/.bundle) so the payload only fires on real developer workstations. The payload's destination URL is stored as a hex blob XORed with a 4-byte key and resolves to http://45.138.122.177:8092/wgkit.tar.gz; the decoded command curls that tarball to /tmp/.w1.tgz, extracts it to /tmp/.w1, and executes bash /tmp/.w1/wg_install.sh. Installing the gem runs attacker-controlled shell code on the installer's machine from a bare-IP endpoint over plain HTTP, with no pinning or integrity check and with explicit sandbox evasion.\n\nThe OpenSSF Package Analysis project identified 'blockchain-sync-utils' @ 1.0.0 (rubygems) as malicious.\n\nIt is considered malicious because:\n\n- The package executes one or more commands associated with malicious behavior.","ecosystems":["RubyGems"],"exploits":{"exploitdb":null,"first_seen":null,"github_poc":null,"max_poc_stars":null,"metasploit":null,"nuclei":null,"refs":[],"tier":null},"has_fix":false,"headline":"Malicious code in blockchain-sync-utils (RubyGems)","id":"MAL-2026-17588","indexable":true,"kev":null,"kind":"malicious","links":{"ecosystem":"RubyGems","product":null,"products":[],"type":null,"year":"2026"},"n_packages":1,"n_references":null,"packages":[{"ecosystem":"RubyGems","fixed":[],"introduced":["0"],"last_affected":[],"package":"blockchain-sync-utils","purl":"pkg:gem/blockchain-sync-utils","source":"MAL-2026-17588"}],"products":null,"published":"2026-10-05","related":[],"sources":[{"class":"attribution","licence":"Apache-2.0","name":"OpenSSF Malicious Packages","prefix":"MAL"}],"ssvc":{"automatable":null,"exploitation":null,"technical_impact":null},"state":null,"updated":null,"vendors":null},"summary":null,"url":"https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-17588/"}